I have DPD and DCSO punched up on the scanner. It pretty much sounds like a typical Saturday night. Well, there was that one livestock call for the sheriff's office. A horse laying in the rod that got up and walked away when the caller honked at it.

WhyteRaven74:Demonrats: The similarities are that neither the rape victim or Zimmerman did anything illegal.

Except for the whole stalking someone thing, it's illegal everywhere to just follow someone for the purposes of intimidation. Also for all we know, and there's no way he'd fess up to it, he might have had his gun drawn the whole time. In which case Martin would've been well within his rights to stand his ground.

You think it is plausible that Martin engaged in a full-frontal attack on someone who had a gun drawn? Do you really think he was that stupid?

I wonder if there are no riots tonight because the black community KNOWS Trayvon brought it on himself. Dave Chapelle brought that shiat out into the light with his "When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong" sketches.... this entire situation has reminded me of that since the beginning. Trayvon didn't like a white guy disrespecting him, he attacked instead of clearing out, and got killed.

The race pimps have been trying to get a riot going since Day 1, but the black community isn't fooled. Good for it.

The rest of y'all are just stupid, though, and you have other axes to grind while pretended Trayvon wouldn't still be alive today if he wasn't so tragically stupid.

StreetlightInTheGhetto: bigsteve3OOO: Albert: Obama, the DOJ, and the media attempted to railroad Zimmerman, This case was 100% political and anyone who thinks Zimmerman is guilty is probably an angry black person or you've been completely fooled and spun up by the lying media.

AMEN. This should have never been more than a local story where no one was charged.

A unarmed teen dead with only the survivor to definitely tell most of the tale - you think no one should have been charged??? That's what our f--king courts are FOR, to sort this sh-t out!

WRONG! That is what investigators are for. The original ones said no case here. then Obama forced them to a trial. It is a sick use of the bully pulpit.

From the other thread, because I have to respond:

If you honestly believe the only reason the trial took place is because "OBAMA FORCED THEM TO A TRIAL", you are a f--king idiot. Although to be fair I am slightly envious of you. Ignorance is bliss, and it must be nice to be so SURE of things, all the time. And to have an easy target that you can blame when anything disturbs you, so you know where to direct your anger you truly know is justified.

I would never want that for myself, but at the same time, I can see how comforting that must be to you.

Actually, I heard that on talk radio. I thought it was funny so I repeated it. I find the liberal talking points more laughable. I am an equal opportunity poke-funner-at-guy.

Talking points are funny. I work for a non-partisan non-profit that anyone without nuance would label as "liberal", and we've never gotten any talking points from the DNC or the state or local equivalent. I can't definitively say MSNBC doesn't get DNC talking points (don't watch it), but I do know that Steve Doocey actually admitted - and flashed - the RNC talking points that coincidentally everyone on Fox had been following that day.

There's far less lock-step in the "liberal" community than many people delude themselves into believing. My local lawmaker is a huge ally of both the non-profit I work for and the entirely-different-milieu non-profit my friend works for, but both groups have voiced disapproval recently (watered down legislation and not stepping up to sponsor or even cosponsor legislation, respectfully, both top priorities for our non-profits). He's still a great ally who does great work, but we're not afraid to call him out if need be - but we still realize he has to compromise and work with him regardless.

I don't see as much of that from the "non-liberal" side. It's march in lock-step, or if someone isn't "conservative" enough - especially if they gasp try to reach across the aisle to (gasp) compromise and get sh-t done, run them out of town (that didn't used to be the case, and it is now, which is a goddamn shame for political discourse in this country).

great_tigers:Lost in all of this I think we see a devastated Zimmerman, people reacting to a judgement of violence with more violence and the fact that we still have a young man who lost his life too early.

skullkrusher:NorCalLos: I don't mean to incite a riot here, but if I think rioting right now is a pretty rational thing to do.

destroying property in your neighborhood because a latino dude was acquitted of murdering a black kid? That doesn't sound really rational

Did you ever actually look into the reasons expressed by the rioters for the L.A. riots after the R. King verdict? Because you sound pretty far removed from being able to comprehend how and why all that went down. Maybe you should think about why people in a depressed and distressed neighborhood would act out in such a way when confronted on a macro scale with a symbol of the cultural oppression they feel (rightly or wrongly) exist on a microscale in their own places of living and existing.

Having just read the relevant law, the immunity also applies to criminal prosecution. And Zimmerman was most definitely just submitted to prosecution.

Cataholic:Getting your face bashed in is NOT a reasonably foreseeable consequence of getting out of a car to find out where someone acting suspiciously ran to, any more than getting raped is a reasonably foreseeable consequence to wearing a skimpy skirt to a party

Except that with stand your ground in place, if you make someone feel threatened, well they can stand their ground. Also Zimmerman didn't have his face bashed in.

Cataholic:PsiChick: Cataholic: PsiChick: Pichu0102: Anyone who celebrates this should be shunned.Anyone who threatens him should be prosecuted.Anyone who thinks this means "open season on whatever minority I don't like" should be prosecuted.Violent rioters should be prosecuted.

Furthermore, everyone should be depressed. A kid is dead, his family is scarred, and a man's life was thrown into chaos and will likely be haunted by this for the rest of his life.

No one wins no matter what happens. My main concern was that people would celebrate this trial's conclusion, despite what a horrible thing that is to celebrate, and I was proven right.

Uh...he brought that one on himself...

/If you're Random Dumbfark, sure, you might not know that following a teen boy in the middle of the night is a stupid idea. If you're 'Captain of the Neighborhood Watch' with a 911 dispatcher telling you to stay the fark put...you have no goddamn excuse for the consequences, especially since you are the adult in the situation.

I know. He should have just laid back and taken the beating he deserved. What did he think was gonna happen wearin that skirt?

You want to know the difference between Zimmerman and a rape victim? Zimmerman chose to get out of his car and actively pursue Trayvon while armed*. Rape victims don't usually chase rapists around with guns.

/*And, as you would know if you knew the first damn thing about gun safety, while you are carrying a loaded weapon you DO NOT TAKE ACTION THAT MIGHT PROVOKE A FIGHT.//Godfarkingdamn, how do people miss the most basic gun-safety rules?

Getting your face bashed in is NOT a reasonably foreseeable consequence of getting out of a car to find out where someone acting suspiciously ran to, any more than getting raped is a reasonably foreseeable consequence to wearing a skimpy skirt to a party. NOBODY should have to fear someone's criminal act and have it considered criminally negligent in failing to do so. Someone under the mistaken belief that you are not where you are supposed to be does not pose a reasonable threat to your life and you have no right to bash their head in until they commit some overt act that leads you to believe they are going to harm you. Even starting a simple scuffle with someone doesn't mean you forfeit your right to defend yourself if the other party wishes to turn it into a life or death struggle. The fact that many people fail to acknowledge these simple truths leads me to believe they have an ulterior motive and are merely using this case to try and restrict the rights of people to use firearms to lawfully defend themselves. If you want to be on the side of the poor oppressed criminal who society forces into a life of violence and theft, be my guest. Just be up front about that in voicing your opinion.

The comments here are amusing but sadly in the following days what will happen will not be. In the next few days we will see:

People will be surprised that yes following someone because you think they are suspicious after they flee from you is in fact against the law in most states

There will be cases of idiots wanting to play hero who suddenly learn that the person they are "observing" also is armed and is actually a lot better and faster than they are.

Some states will introduce new laws to place more limits on self-defense and Concealed carry

Diane Feinstein will reintroduce her gun bill

And Zimmy will try to cash in on this, he will get some appearance with Palin and Nugent and the other right wing whargbblrs then like Joe the Plumber he will fade from the spot light until he makes another poor choice and shows once again he has no common sense.

Bravo Two:Mentat: MelGoesOnTour: Mentat: MelGoesOnTour: For what it's worth, if Martin was such an innocent angel you'd think he'd have said to Zimmerman something along the lines of "Hey, bro', it's all good and I'm just walking home so be cool" rather than decide to attack him outright. Zimmerman may have been guilty of being too suspicious but Martin pulled the first punch.

He didn't attack him outright. He confronted Zimmerman in his car and Zimmerman wouldn't identify himself. Trayvon then ran away and waited for Zimmerman to follow him, which he did.

So Zimmerman was essentially ambushed?!

Yes, he was, and that was never in dispute. Trayvon ran away and then waited to see if Zimmerman followed, which he did. Trayvon confronted him again and at some point started throwing punches. We don't know if Zimmerman said something to provoke him or if Trayvon saw the gun or if Trayvon simply decided to start throwing punches. But you know what? Zimmerman is a grown ass man. He should have known better than to put himself in that situation. The law is the law but common sense will save your ass far more often than the law will.

ChaosStar:cretinbob: ChaosStar: Sbdolan: So what is up with people saying they cannot file for civil in florida? any one have a link?

Justified self defense means he is immune to civil action stemming from the event.It's in the 776 chapter of Florida law

Only if he had a SYG hearing, which he waived.He is not immune from civil penalties. O'Mara made sure that he can ride this cash cow as long as possible.

[t.qkme.me image 310x198]

You of all people want to challenge me on this?WRONG776.032 Immunity from criminal prosecution and civil action for justifiable use of force.-(1) A person who uses force as permitted in s. 776.012, s. 776.013, or s. 776.031 is justified in using such force and is immune from criminal prosecution and civil action for the use of such force

See that word "or"?That means if they used any of those three statutes, and won, they are immune.Period.

Yeah, that's why O'Mara is saying he's going to be Zimmerman's lawyer in any civil action.SYG was never invoked. If it had, then you'd be correct. Zimmerman would have had to testify if SYG was invoked and he would have hung himself.

There are many ways to start a fight without throwing the first punch.

95% of fights start with trash talking. If you don't say sh*t, there won't be sh*t. No matter what someone yells in your face, walk away. Break eye contact, but keep an eye on them, and get distance silently. It's the universal code for "lets not go there". If he's smart, he'll get it and bother someone else.

The other 5% are drunk/high/angry guys walking by on the sidewalk who sucker punch you for no reason. They know you have to pass near them because it's a sidewalk, and they're just looking for the one guy who isn't paying attention. They are why we carry concealed. If you are ever physically attacked, defend yourself early and aggressively. The law is on your side.

ontariolightning:@911BUFF: DALLAS POLICE DEPARTMENT CONFIRMS THEY HAVE RIOT POLICE ON ALERT AFTER GEORGE ZIMMERMAN'S VERDICT. #911BUFF@911BUFF: MULTIPLE REPORTS OF LARGE CROWDS AND LARGE POLICE PRESENCE IN BROOKLYN FOLLOWING GEORGE ZIMMERMAN VERDICT. #911BUFF @911BUFF: CHICAGO POLICE RESPONDING TO DALEY PIZZA FOR A LARGE AND VIOLENT CROWD GATHERING AFTER GEORGE ZIMMERMAN VERDICT. #911BUF@911BUFF: MULTIPLE REPORTS OF COPS STORMING THE STREETS IN MIAMI RIGHT NOW AFTER GEORGE ZIMMERMAN VERDICT. #911BUFF

Did you mean Dealy Plaza and shouldn't that be in Dallas near the grassy knoll?

TsuZi:great_tigers: Lost in all of this I think we see a devastated Zimmerman, people reacting to a judgement of violence with more violence and the fact that we still have a young man who lost his life too early.

I see.I'm the guy who says there's no evidence that proves either Zimmerman or Trayvon started the fight and anyone who claims either of the options as fact and not their own interpretation of the limited evidence is an idiot, as is anyone who blames the 'race industry'.

skullkrusher: destroying property in your neighborhood because a latino dude was acquitted of murdering a black kid? That doesn't sound really rational

From another perspective:Having it declared justice to follow around a young man who has done nothing wrong with a gun until he "stands his ground," then shooting him because he's winning the fight you baited him into basically means you and your offspring do not legally have the right to exist in public.

arentol:Handy to know that in Florida you can murder anyone you like just by making sure they get a few licks in on you before you pull your gun and shoot them.

The Prosecution should have gone for Assault with a Deadly Weapon in addition to Murder in this case. That would have brought in a section of Florida law that makes it clear that you can't claim self defense if you initiate a confrontation while armed. So then if the jury felt he was guilty of the assault charge they would also have to get him for murder as well.

Oh well, he will be farked in the civil case and his life is ruined now anyway. Still a HELL of a lot better off than Trayvon Martin, but at least he won't get a pass to an easy life.

Seeing as how Florida has no crime of "assault with a deadly weapon" and how the section on justifiable use of force by an aggressor makes no mention of losing the right while armed and how there is a specific section that makes you immune from civil action when you engage in justifiable use of force (self defense), I'm going to assume the rest of your post is wrong as well.

cretinbob:Yeah, that's why O'Mara is saying he's going to be Zimmerman's lawyer in any civil action.SYG was never invoked. If it had, then you'd be correct. Zimmerman would have had to testify if SYG was invoked and he would have hung himself.

great_tigers:TsuZi: great_tigers: Lost in all of this I think we see a devastated Zimmerman, people reacting to a judgement of violence with more violence and the fact that we still have a young man who lost his life too early.